German police officer convicted for failing to investigate a stabbing crime that later led to the death of a child
A court in Bavaria convicted a police officer for failing to investigate a previous knife attack committed by a man who later killed two people, one of whom was a child, in the city of Aschaffenburg. The court sentenced the officer to five months in prison, suspended for three years under supervision, and ordered him to pay 3,000 euros to an organization dedicated to crime victims instead of serving a prison sentence.
The 29-year-old officer was convicted of obstructing justice after failing to open a criminal investigation in August 2024 when an Afghan man was accused of stabbing his girlfriend at a refugee center. Just five months later, the same man carried out a horrific attack in a park in Aschaffenburg, where he stabbed a two-year-old child and a 41-year-old man to death, and seriously injured three others while assaulting a group of children in a kindergarten.
Judge Thorsten Kimrer from the Altsenau court sharply criticized the officer, describing his behavior as "negligence" and "laziness". The judge stated that the case, despite its complexity, did not exempt the officer from his professional duty to investigate. He added: "He simply did nothing, nothing at all."
Prosecutor Christophe Ghilot demanded an 18-month prison sentence, noting that the officer was aware that the incident involved "serious knife assault." He said: "We had evidence, videos, and witness testimonies confirming this." Meanwhile, lawyer Frank Combeault defended his client, calling for acquittal, arguing that there is no proof that the officer knew the victim was injured by a knife. The officer refused to make any comment in court.
During the trial, a lack of communication among four officers who dealt with the original case in 2024 was revealed, but the prosecution dropped charges against the other three for not being the lead investigators. The prosecutor clarified that it is uncertain whether the early investigation would have prevented the subsequent crime, but he affirmed that this is not the essence of the case legally.
The Afghan defendant, who is currently on trial in Aschaffenburg, has had his lawyers admit his involvement in the crime of January 2025, but they asserted that he is psychologically unfit for trial. A psychological expert testified before the court that the defendant suffers from paranoid psychosis and has been admitted to psychiatric institutions three times in the past, with a previous record in an assault case. The motives for the attack remain unknown so far, while a verdict in his case is expected on October 30.